12 Conversion Rate Optimization Tips

So, you’ve spent thousands of dollars making your social accounts shine. You’ve single-handily mastered the world of Google Adwords and you’ve got a tribe of bloggers out promoting your brand and your business, and potential customers are starting to come down your funnel towards your landing page…

They are so close….

Here they are…

“Hello!!!” You scream.

They stop suddenly.

Wait, where are they going?

WHY ARE THEY BOUNCING!

Sound familiar? Time and time again our team see savvy business owners creating a fantastic online presence but they totally neglect the ability of their website to convert a visitor. It doesn’t matter how good your sales team or your marketing department is, if the end of your funnel is wrong, you won’t get conversions.

Period.

Luckily, there’s a few things you can do to change all that, and with these conversion rate optimization tips we’re going to cover twelve ways to get those fussy website visitors of yours to buy.

1. UPDATE YOUR SITE

Landing on a website that looks like it was made in 1999 will not leave a good impression. You need to follow current design trends, ensure your website follows best-practices like being mobile-responsive, otherwise you risk losing the sale immediately. The simplicity and speed that our team can get you a customized theme set-up in WordPress, means you’ve got absolutely no excuse for a site that isn’t up to date. Just like clothing and the topics on social media, websites follow trends as well and your business cannot afford to fall behind.

2. SIMPLE LANDING PAGES

The second step is to make sure your landing page is clear, concise, and has a call to action that inspires a visitor to convert. If a potential customer lands on your site, is it immediately apparent exactly what you will do for them? Are there any ways you can make this even more clear? Outdated posts and even just spending too much time working on your own website can reduce your ability to be judgemental, so hire a consultant or just ask your friends for direct feedback so you can get a fresh perspective on what needs to be improved. You have just seconds to make an impression, so make it count.

3. STAY CALM WITH POP-UPS

Pop-ups are a marketers dream, but often a consumers nightmare. They’re important because once you capture their information it allows you to re-target a particular user very cost-effectively, but don’t over-do it. You want your users to be able to navigate your site without pop-ups springing up every two seconds, and as soon as you annoy them they will click the (X) and leave. Keep it subtle, and ask for as few fields as possible with your signup form *(every extra field you add decreases conversions by 11%).

4. BE AUTHENTIC

This is especially important for small-business owners, as you need to convey the personality behind your business, without over-hyping your products or telling blatant lies. You don’t want your website to be the equivalent of a greasy car salesman do you? The best websites are clear, and offer a glimpse into the people behind the business, so you can connect with your audience on a personal level. You’ll find this far easier if you have an idea of your target audience before you start trying to write the sales copy for your website, so you can speak to them directly.

5. KNOW YOUR HOT-SPOTS

When users search in Google the results in the top few spots see the lion’s share of clicks, and the same goes for your website. There will be particular areas that naturally draw the attention of your visitors, and it’s in these spots where you will get the best results when you place a call-to-action. Use a tool like Crazy Egg to see where your audience is clicking, and you may be surprised at what spots are the strongest areas of your site.

6. KEEP IT ABOVE-THE-FOLD

Make it as simple as possible to get a conversion. Placing items “above the fold” essentially just means that your call to action is one of the first things a visitor see’s on your site, and they don’t have to scroll or do anything except click the “BUY NOW” button. In a similar note, don’t overwhelm your audience with too many distractions. Decide on the single action you want them to take, and make a single conversion point. Simplicity is always best.

7. USE IMAGES TO TELL A STORY

It’s so easy to source high-quality images you have no excuse if you’re using inferior or poor photography on your website. Products should be displayed in high definition so customers are able to inspect before they buy, and including relevant imagery in your marketing and social posts boosts their share-ability. Research by eMarketer from March 2014 found that photo’s generated an 87% interaction rate from users, massively higher than any other type of post on Facebook.

8. TESTIMONIALS BUILD TRUST

Online reviews and feedback from real customers is almost as good as a word-of-mouth recommendation, especially when you’re getting influencers and key bloggers to endorse your products to their audience. What’s most important though is that a study from Nielsen found 92% of consumers actually believe their recommendations from friends and family over all forms of advertising. So push your first few customers hard for a recommendation, get them to leave reviews on your social pages and then connect your accounts to your website so fans can interact and see all the hard work you’ve done pleasing your customers. Social proof is a fantastic push to convert the potential buyer who is still on the fence.

9. GET YOUR BRANDING RIGHT

Human brains are complex, and there is much in our environment that influences the decision making process. Heck, studies even found you will feel less hungry if you eat dinner from a blue plate. This translates to your website too, so keep in mind how colours, and the look and feel of your site can impact your ultimate conversion rate. Each page of your site needs to be consistently branded, and you should always be split-testing different designs, landing pages and sales copy to find what works best for your audience.

10. TAKE THEIR MONEY

Ensure it’s as simple as possible for your customer to pay you. Once they’re ready to buy the most crucial step is having as many payment channels as possible. The easier you make it, the higher chances they will convert. Multiple payment options are a staple, especially with providers like Stripe, PayPal and many banks even offering the ability for direct transfers to be made.

11. CHAT WITH YOUR PROSPECTS

Often there’s just a single question that is holding a customer back from converting, and it’s your job to help them overcome it. If you’re struggling with the remainder of your site, add in a live-chat system, and start talking to potential customers directly. Live Chat is 15% more satisfying than email for customers with a question, and a whopping 40% more satisfying to use than calling into customer service. Pay attention to what gets asked, you may just find some new strategies you can implement to improve your business too.

12. MAKE USE OF THE DATA

The final step is the most important of all, especially if your losing customers from your pipeline. Connect your analytics tracking and follow the data like a hawk. You can see exactly where customers bounce from your site, and then you can brainstorm different ways to combat this action. Not all audiences are the same, and there is no single ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach you can follow. You’ll find you get far better results by tailoring your conversion strategies to your particular audience, and the key to making the right choices is in the data.

Keep these twelve conversion rate optimization tips in mind as you’re reviewing your website, and as you begin to make the changes you’ll see your conversion rate shoot through the roof.

Do you have a fantastic trick for increasing your conversion rate? Let us know in the chat below.